Power-actuated vehicle-moving apparatus



Oct. 23, 1951 7 J. ANDERSON ET AL 2,572,687

POWER-ACTUATED VEHICLEMOVING APPARATUS Filed June 13, 1947 I 2 SHEETSe-SHEET 1 I III 3 n g3 a;

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" ,1 IAWVENTURS JD/YAA/VDfRSO V C 745/4 A rry J. ANDERSON ET AL POWER-ACTUATED VEHICLE-MOVING APPARATUS Oct. 23, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed June 13, 1947 Patented Oct. 23, 1951 POWER-ACTUATED VEHICLE-MOVING I I APPARATUS.

o n nders n, lasgo wtla hand. nd w Fraser, London, England; as sig norsv to Majvor &. C ol llson', Limitedy Glasgow, Scotland Application Junei13;1947, Serial Nc.-.r7s4,39 o.- g nV K Veat fi itain nuary 2 45.

This invention is concernedwith circumstances in which a, train of empty vehicles hasto be' moved under a loadingchute or equivalent which 7 isdischarging coal or other loose material, so..,

that. the vehicles are filled in succession. The,

invention is particularly concerned withthe load,- f

ing of collierytubs, with coal from a conveyorby 'waypf: a chute.v The. use of modern high capacity conveyors in collieries necessitates power operatedapparatus for. shifting the tubs, Thus,

a highcapacity conveyormay deliver coal at. the

rateof seven tons per minute which necessitates the filling and removal of fourteen half-ton tubs in that time.

An object of thislinvention...isto, provide in.

combination with a material-discharging;means, apparatus comprising, two.\ pressure-fluid ram units for engaging the vehiclesto be moved, and control means for controlling theoperations ofthe respective units, one-of said units being arranged in relationto saidmaterial-discharging. means to advance a vehicle to aloading; station in which to receive material dischargedby said means and the othenof said units being arranged inrelation to the first unit to move the vehicle in said station for trimming the loads Another object is. to provide .apparatus -com prising a. high-speed pressure fiuid ram. unit.

adapted to advance a vehicle to a loading station,-in combination with a slowr-speedpressurefluid ram unit adapted to impart trimming movement to the vehicle in said station.

Another object is I to arrange a the two; ram unitsin alignment at ground level for pushing the vehicles the unit for the trimming movement being located in front of; the unit for the ad vancing movement.

The invention will now he describedby way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an elevation of a coal delivering installation including shaking chute system in; combination with I tub-moving apparatus.; Fig.2 j

is a plan of components of the tub-moving apparatus.

corporated in the installation.

Referring to the drawings, the shakingchute system includes a shaking chuteB supported at opposite ends by rollers 6 which ride upon rails I on stationary structures 8 and.9. The,structure 8 is .incorporated..,in the; framework at the el v y n o a a c v tion. A owerecsp l- 2 lated uarm I0;.journa11ed,on the structure Lisp connected by a link I I, to the chute 5., Thestruc: ture 9 is the stationary delivery end :sectiomofg theshaking chute system. A door I2 is hinged at its. lower edge, at I3, to the,sectio n ,9 The. door has side checks '14,. each of which. is c011 nected bya link I5 to poWer-actuatedmechae, nism for opening and closing the door., The, mechanisnr includes. a .quickeacting. hydraulic. unitIB onthe section. 9', theram I'I of the. unit. being connected to. a,.be1l-crank.1ever. l8 :con,- nectedin its turnto the linkl 5.

Inoperation of the. chutevsystern, thetchutei receives a reciprocatory shakingrnotion .from themechanismQIEl, l I anddelivers coal to the ista-i tionar-ysection-9, -which provides in conjunction with the hinged door I2 a hopper of. sufiicien-tz-v capacity to ccntain thecoa-l that is-prevented from being discharged by the door while closed; The door is opened and closed at appropriate intervals (as hereinafter described): by the meche anis m1 I5;to 'I3,'thB coal being discharged-while the door is open.

The chute system is arranged to deliver the; discharged coal at a'loading station, or filling; position, to a train of interconnected :tubs in. succession; twenty-one tubs is a customary hum ber'in a train. In Figs. 1 and 3, tubs I9 are shown in simple outline, the tubs running on a line-of rails 2i] (Fig. 3). These rails-extend inderthe chute section 9. The train i b-rought to the loading tation and thereafter the tubs are-moved in succession below the door I2 by means of hydraulic apparatus, the function of which-is to. push a tub into appropriate positional relation with the door, which is closed for the time being; then, when the door is opened, to push the tub, slowly forward, thus distributing or trimming the coal in the tub; next, the door being again closed, to push the next tub into appropriate positional, relation with the. door, thus forcing tnesiifrstmentioned truck beyond the door; andso on The hydraulic apparatus includes two doublee. acting hydraulic ram units 2i and 22, both fixed, longitudinally at ground level between the rails; 20., The rams 23 and 24 of the respective units. each have a head plate 25 with wheels 26 which; run on rails 21, and they each have a pair of; pivotal arms 28 forming a one-Way catch bar for engagement with the tub axles 29. Each; catch; bar 28 is urged upwards;(say by spring or weight; means, not-shown) to. a raised position in which; the catch bar can grip and push an ax1e,jas shown; .:.Fiesr; and 3- a hrcatchbariis :yielda-ble;r-v

3 downwards, so that an axle can pass over it without obstruction when the tub is being pushed forwards.

In the example, the unit 2| is slow-acting, being placed more or less below the section 9. The unit 22 is designed to act at a higher speed and its stroke is much longer than that of the unit 2|, behind which the unit 22 is located in alignment.

The unit I6 of the door I2 and the units 2| and 22 of the tub-pushing apparatus are incorporated in the same hydraulic system, as Fig. 4 shows.

The hydraulic system also includes an oil reservoir 30, an oil pump 3| driven by an electric motor 32 (Fig. 1), control means consisting of two distributing valves 33 and 34, having control handles 35 and 36 respectively for their operation,

and interlock valves 37 and 38 which control the workin relation between the door unit I6 and the tub-pushing apparatus. Each of the control handles 35 and 36 has three available positions, referred to herein as the first, second and third positions.

In Fig. 4 the components of the hydraulic system are shown connected by appropriate piping.

In this diagram, the components are shown without regard to their true positional relationship for simplicity and clearness of illustration; the approximate positional relationship of the components can be gathered from Fig. 1, from which the piping is omitted. The valve 31 has tappets 39 and 40 at opposite ends of its valve rod, which is actuated by a striker 4| arranged on the ram 24 of the unit 22 in order to co-operate with the tappets 39 and 40. The valve 38 has a tappet 42 onits valve rod, the bellcrank lever 8 serving as striker to the tappet 42. Stop valves 43 are connected at appropriate points in the piping of the hydraulic system.

The pump 3| draws oil from the reservoir 33 and discharges the oil under pressure to the distributing valves 33 and 34 through pipes 44' and 45. In the first (or neutral) position of the control handles 35 and 36, the oil returns through pipes 46 and 46 to return pipes 46 and 41 leading back to the reservoir 30, thus circulating idly.

Assume that the door I2 is closed and that an empty tub I9, one of a train of interconnected tubs, has to be advanced for filling with coal. The door ram I! is fully advanced and the tappet 42 depressed by the lever I8. The tub-advancing ram 24 is fully withdrawn, with its catch bar 28 engaging an axle 2-3 of the tub next behind the tub to be filled. The coal-trimming ram 23 also is withdrawn, its catch bar 28 being inactive.

In operation of the hydraulic system, a worker moves the control handle 36 into its second position. Thus, the oil passing through the valve 34 is cut off from the return pipes 46 46 and 41 and is supplied by way of a pipe 48, the valve 38 and a pipe 49 to the working end of the unit 22, so that the ram 24 is quickly advanced from its cylinder. In this way, the tub engaged by the unit 22 and the tub or tubs ahead of it are advanced, and the arrangement is such that the first empty tub comes below the door at the forward limit of the stroke of the ram 24. Oil passes from the return end of the unit 22 through a pipe 50 and the valve 34 to the return pipes 46 46 and 41. It is essential to this train-advancing movement that the door I2 must be fully closed (in order to maintain the valve 38 properl positioned). Thus, as this movement involves passage of an inter-tub space of the train through 4 the loading station, coal cannot be discharged between the tubs and loss of coal is prevented.

At about the end of this train-advancing movement, the striker 4| engages the tappet 39 and actuates the valve 31, so that oil is supplied from the pipe 48, a pipe 5|, the valve 31 and a pipe 52 to the door-opening end of the unit I 6. Thus the ram H is quickly withdrawn into its cylinder and opens the door |2, oil returning from the other end of the unit I6 by a pipe 53 and the valve 31 to the return pipe 46. At the start of the dooropening movement, the lever I3 releases the previously depressed tappet 42, so that the working end of the unit 22 is cut-off'from the oil supply pipe 48. The timing of the operations is such that the door I2 is fully opened by the quick action of the unit I6 at about the instant when the tub-advancin unit 22 completes its working stroke. At this instant the front axle of the first empty tub moves over the catch bar 28 of the unit 2 I, and the catch bar engages it.

The apparatus is now ready for the trimming operation. Therefore the worker moves the control handle 35 into its second position, so that oil is supplied from the pipe 44 through the valve 33 and a pipe 54 to the working end of the unit 2|, the ram 23 of which slowly advances the engaged tub as it fills with coal. Meantime, oil returns from the other end of the unit 2| through a pipe 55, the valve 33 and the pipe 45 to the return pipes 46, 47. Moreover, the worker moves the control handle 36 into its third position, in which the return end of the tub-advancing unit 22 is connected through the pipe 56 and the valve 34 to the oil supply pipe 45, so that,the ram 24 is retracted into its cylinder, oil from the other end V of the unit 22 passing through the pipe 49 and the valve 42 to the return pipe 41. In addition, the action of moving the handle 36 into its third position cuts-ofi the pipe 48,.valves 37 and 33 and unit I6 from the supply pipe 45. theend of the return of the ram 24, the striker 4| engages the tappet 40 and returns the valve 31 to its initial position, in which the connections through the valve 31 are reversed, namely, the temporarily cut-01f pipe 48 is connected through the pipe 5|, valve 31 and pipe 53 to the doorclosing end of the unit I6, and the other end thereof is connected through the pipe 52 and valve 31 to the return pipe 46. Thus, the connections to the unit I6 are re-set in readiness to close the door I2 on the return later of the control handle into its second position. When the tub being filled is about full, the worker moves" the control handle 35 to its third position, in which oil is supplied from the pipe 44 through the Valve 33 and pipe 55 to the return end of the unit 2|, oil passing from the opposite end thereof through the pipe 54, valve 33 and pipe 46 to the return pipes 46 and 41. Finally, the worker returns the control handle 36 through its first position to its second position, thus supplying oil from the pipe 45 through the valve 34, pipe 48, pipe 5|, valve 3'! and pipe 53 to the door-closing end of the unit I 6. Thus the door I2 is closed when the leading tub is fully advanced to the end of its trimming movement. As the door closes, the lever I8 strikes the tappet 42 and returns the valve 33 to the position in which oil is supplied to the working end of the-unit 22, which therefore engages another tub of the train and pushes that tub and those in front of it sufi'iciently to remove the last filled tub from the loading station and to bring the now first empty tub thereinto. Thus, the cycle of operations is At about i ended and another cycle is started. As will be understood, the now "first empty truck is next engaged by the unit 2| and the necessary trimming operation is performed as the tub is loaded. The cycle of operations is repeated for each successive tub of the train.

In another patent application of even date by David Jackson and James Thomson of which Mavor & Coulson, Limited, are assignees, the invention claimed concerns a chute with a door for discharging material conveyed to the chute and power means for opening and closing the door in co-relation with apparatus for moving vehicles in succession into and out of a position in which the material is discharged through the open door into each vehicle.

We claim:

1. In combination with a material-discharging means, vehicle-moving apparatus comprising a pressure-fluid system, two pressure-fluid ram units incorporated in said system, each unit having means for engaging a vehicle to be moved, control valve means also incorporated in said system for controlling the movements of the respective units, the first of said units being arranged in relation to said material-discharging means so that it can advance a vehicle into a loading station in which to receive material discharged by said means and the other of said units being arranged in relation to the first unit so that it can impart a trimming movement to said vehicle while in said station, and a valve also incorporated in said system for controlling the operation of said material-discharging means, said valve being actuated by one of said ram units so that said material-discharging means is operative only during the trimming movement of the vehicle.

2. In combination with a material-discharging means, vehicle-moving apparatus comprising a pressure-fluid system, two pressure-fluid units incorporated in said system, the first of said units having a high-speed ram and the other having a slower-speed ram and each of said rams hav ing means for engaging a vehicle to be moved, control valve means also incorporated in said system for controlling the movements of the re.- spective rams, the first of said units being ar ranged in relation to said material-discharging means so that its high-speed ram can advance a vehicle into a loading station in which to receive material discharged by said means and the other being arranged in relation to the first unit so that its slower-speed ram can impart a trimming movement to said vehicle while in said station, and a valve also incorporated in said system for controlling the operation of said material-dis.- charging means by one of said rams so that said material-discharging means is operative only during the trimming movement of the vehicle.

3. In combination with a material-discharging means, vehicle-moving apparatus comprising a pressure-fluid system, two pressure-fluid units incorporated in said system, the first of said units having a long-stroke ram and the other having a shorter-stroke ram and each of said rams having means for engaging a vehicle to be moved, control valve means also incorporated in said system for controlling the movements of the respective rams, the first of said units being arranged in relation to said material-discharging means so that its long-stroke ram can advance a vehicle into a loading station in which to receive material discharged by said means and the other being arranged in relation to the first unit so that its shorter-stroke ram can impart a trimming movement to said vehicle while in said station, a valve also incorporated in said system for controlling the operation of said materialdischarging means, and a striker which is actuated by one of said rams and operates said valve to effect operation of said material-discharging means in timed relation with the movements imparted by the rams to the vehicle.

4. In combination with a material-discharging means, apparatus for moving Wheeled vehicles with axles, such apparatus comprising a pressurefiuid system, two pressure-fluid units incorporated in said system, each unit comprising a ram and a cylinder located at about ground level in selected relationship to each other and to said material-discharging means, pivotal arms on the respective rams inclined upwards for one-Way engagement with the axles of vehicles to be moved, control valve means also incorporated in said system for controlling the movements of the respective rams, one of said cylinders being arranged in front of and in alignment with the other so that the ram of the front cylinder can push forward for trimming material being discharged by said means into a vehicle already pushed into a loading station by the ram of the other cylinder, and a valve also incorporated in said system for controlling the operation of said material-discharging means by one of said rams so that said material-discharging means is operative only during the trimming movement of the vehicle.-

JOH N ANDERSON. ANDREW FRASER,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES .PATENTS 

